THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	61
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OR THE OAHU METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION, AS APPLICABLE, TO WORK WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO DEVELOP A TRAFFIC MITIGATION PLAN TO ADDRESS THE CURRENT AIEA-RED HILL-MOANALUA-SALT LAKE CONGESTION AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL FUTURE CONGESTION AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE MOANALUA HILLSIDE DEVELOPMENT, AND TO ENABLE TIMELY FUNDING FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT PLAN.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Honolulu's citizens and businesses rely on a viable roadway system for mobility and economic prosperity; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2014 State of Hawaii Data Book found that in 2011, Honolulu commuters daily traveled 3,148,000 vehicle-miles on the City's arterial streets; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2014 State of Hawaii Data Book also found that the estimated total cost of roadway congestion for the Honolulu urbanized area in 2011 was $427,000,000 or $928 per peak auto commuter; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2015 TomTom Traffic Index ranked Honolulu as the third most congested city in the United States with a thirty-two percent congestion level, behind San Francisco at thirty-four percent and Los Angeles at thirty-nine percent; and

 

     WHEREAS, significant traffic attractors and generators in the Aiea-Red Hill-Moanalua-Salt Lake area include: the Moanalua H-1 and H-3 Freeways' exits and entrances, Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center, Aliamanu Military Reservation, Honolulu International Airport, Federal Detention Center, United States Postal Service Honolulu District Office, Tripler Army Medical Center, Fort Shafter, Camp Smith, Aloha Stadium, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Pacific Aviation Museum, the U.S.S. Arizona and Battleship Missouri Memorials, Pearlridge Center, and several large residential developments; and

 

     WHEREAS, the traffic volumes for the Moanalua Freeway west of Kahuapaani Street have ranged between 48,625 and 37,775 vehicles on average each day; and volumes for the Moanalua Freeway at Moanalua Stream Bridge have ranged between 115,345 and 96,155 vehicles on average each day, respectively, over the past twenty-two years; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2015 American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA) report, "Unclogging America's Arteries 2015: Prescriptions for Healthier Highways", noted that the Halawa Interchange is a significantly congested bottleneck in the State, with a queue length of 0.1 miles and an annual total delay of 78,260 hours; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2015 AHUA report also noted that the H-3 merge at Ala Kapuna Street is another of Hawaii's significantly congested bottlenecks, with a queue length of 0.7 miles and an annual total delay of 607,100 hours; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 2015 AHUA report states that the value of time that could be regained by alleviating traffic congestion in the United States, such as the congestion experienced on Interstate H-1 between Ala Kapuna Street and Exit 1D translates into queue lengths of 0.7 miles and a corresponding 607,100 hours of annual total delays, and on H-201 Freeway at the H-3 Interchange of queue lengths of 0.1 miles and 78,260 hours in annual total delays; and

 

     WHEREAS, the proposed five hundred new studio and one-bedroom units in the Moanalua Hillside Development would add an estimated five hundred to one thousand additional cars which would further increase the traffic congestion in that area; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, that the Department of Transportation or the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, as applicable, are requested to work with the Department of Transportation Services for the City and County of Honolulu to develop a traffic mitigation plan to address the current Aiea-Red Hill-Moanalua-Salt Lake congestion as well as additional future congestion after the completion of the Moanalua Hillside Development, and to enable timely funding for the implementation of that plan; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation or the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, as applicable, and Department of Transportation Services for the City and County of Honolulu are requested to submit a joint report of the traffic mitigation plan, including projected costs and a timeline of implementation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Transportation, Executive Director of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Managing Director of the City and County of Honolulu, Director of Transportation Services for the City and County of Honolulu, Director of Design and Construction for the City and County of Honolulu, Director of Planning and Permitting for the City and County of Honolulu, and Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

Report Title: 

DOT; C & C Dept. of Transportation Services; Aiea-Red Hill-Moanalua-Salt Lake Area Traffic Congestion